


i've got you brother

by sheskyripa



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, POV Aaron Minyard, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheskyripa/pseuds/sheskyripa
Summary: Josten and Andrew had suffered so much at the hands of other people that their dislike was justified. Aaron knew that Andrew hated being touched, that he trusted no one, and that he hated everyone and everything. Josten was completely unsympathetic out of foxes. They were the same on many ways. But, if a puzzle is only completed with different pieces, why did Andrew and Neil seem to orbit so easily together?or Aaron's way to understand his brother and his non-relationship with Neil
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard, Katelyn/Aaron Minyard, Kevin Day & Aaron Minyard, Kevin Day/Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 45
Kudos: 211





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> alright, this is my first work here so please be patient with me. I hope you enjoy it! annnnnd, english is not my first language, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes.
> 
> nora says that: andrew and aaron would never has a good relationship, so i says: fuck you nora and this born.

Aaron would hit his head against the nearest wall if it weren't for Katelyn playing with his ear, her fingers soft and icy against his skin.

They were at Eden's, just because they wanted to, and Nicky had the brilliant idea of extending the invitation - usually extended to only Andrew’s selected group of approved people - to the upperclassmen and the freshmen, who had called the cheerleaders. Not that Aaron was complaining about that part. In fact, he loved the chance to be able to be with Katelyn that night, but because from where he was sitting, with Katelyn on his lap, Marissa on one 0f his sides and Nicky on the other, he could visualize his brother and Josten in a far corner. Together.

They weren't doing anything really. In fact, they were doing nothing but exist next to each other. Aaron knew that Andrew didn't dance, so he came to Eden's was just for the drinks (Aaron refuses to recognize the other reason) and he also knew that Josten didn't like crowds so he was always against a wall. But something in the way they were  _ really _ close, even without touching each other, made Aaron want to stick his head into the wall.

Of course, he was fighting the feeling of disgust when he thought of them like that. Katelyn rebuked him often so that Aaron never forgot how much was being a jerk, and the numerous conversations with Betsy on homophobia internalized this knowledge well enough, but still, he could not see  _ how _ Andrew could do it. After everything.

Not that Andrew made lots of moves to explain himself.

He refrained from the conversation going on around him to watch them. Andrew was sitting with his back against the chair and a beer bottle in his hand. Neil also sat with him, but with his arms crossed over his chest and his ankle on one of his thighs. Aaron also noticed how his head was tilted slightly towards Andrew and his lips were moving, probably saying something to him.

Andrew showed no sign of hearing anything he was talking about, which Aaron was not surprised at all. What he was really surprised about was when Andrew brought his free hand up to Josten's thighs, who smiled when he noticed.

Aaron thought he had never seen them touch before that, only in Baltimore, when Andrew studied all of Josten's new injuries. What did that mean?

Katelyn nudged him in the thigh.

"Honey, where are you?" she asked, amused.

He took a sip of the vodka in his hand before answering.

"Sorry what?"

"I asked what do you think about going to dance?"

He cannot avoid the grimace that has formed on his face.

“I hate to dance. Nicky always makes me do it, but I really don’t want today. In fact, I'm a little dizzy, but you can go. ”

Katelyn worried.

"Dizzy? Do you have low blood pressure? Can we… ”

“No, Kate, it's the drink. I didn't eat much before we came. Don’t worry." he gave her a peck. "Go dance."

"OK ..." she got up from Aaron's lap and held out her hand to Nicky. "Come on, Nicky."

Aaron raised the vodka can to his lips once more before returning his attention to his brother. He didn't know exactly why he was doing this besides for the fact he was selfishly curious (and concerned, even if he wasn't going to admit it). Aaron thought that a part of him just wanted a glimpse of an Andrew that was more human than what met the eye. A glimpse that could tell him his brother had feelings, and that they weren’t  _ that _ broken or twisted. Aaron  _ wanted _ something to cling to, so he could justify this hope within his chest every time he looked at Andrew.

Contrary to what everyone thinks, he does not hate his brother. Not anymore, at least. He was beyond angry when he found out that he had killed his mother, but he understands why now, even if he doesn't make it easy or any less painful.

He watched his brother tilt his head towards Josten and say something, but the loud music and the distance did not allow him to hear it. This was the first time that Andrew seemed to recognize his presence at his side, with the exception of the hand he had placed on the striker’s thigh, now already removed, and he had not even looked at him while putting his hand there. Well, whatever he had said, it seemed to have Josten satisfied, because a smile spread across his deformed face.

Aaron watched them face each other for what seemed like a lifetime and even so his brother's expression didn't change, but Josten seemed happy with whatever he was seeing there.

Aaron felt, more than saw, Marissa as she returned to his side on the club couch. She drank something from a pink cup and looked at Aaron:

"What do you look at so much?"

"Nothing."

She raised a dark eyebrow and leaned over to enter Aaron's personal space so that she could get an idea of where he was looking. Aaron looked too, and realized that Andrew was no longer sitting and that Josten was alone drinking something - Aaron would bet his life that it was coke - and felt it in his chest when Marissa snorted. She returned to her position on the couch.

"I don't like him either," she said and then took another sip of her mysterious drink.

"What?"

“Josten. I don't like him either. Kate told me that you hate him. ”

"I have a vague memory of you hitting on him." Aaron raised an eyebrow when she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but that was before he was extremely unkind to me."

Aaron  _ almost _ pointed out the fact that Josten was an ass about that stuff because of his issues, but then he remembered that he was with his brother now.

_ Who _ would have taken the first step, Aaron wondered. It couldn't be Andrew, could it? It certainly wasn't Josten.

Aaron chose not to comment on Marissa's last line in favor of drinking another sip of vodka. She was no longer in her personal space, but she had found a way to have the same visual focus as Aaron, which meant that she also saw when a random guy sat in the chair Andrew was standing in earlier. He saw when Neil was extremely uncomfortable and looked at anything but the guy sitting next to him, who was trying to talk to him.

"Well, at least I wasn't the only one he was impolite to," commented Marissa. “The guy is  _ handsome _ and is clearly interested in him. What does he think? That he is better than everyone in here and that everyone is not good enough? ”

Aaron avoided responding to her again by taking a sip of vodka.

If he hadn't been looking, he would have missed the moment when Josten spotted Andrew. His face, which was completely blank, relaxed remarkably for a few seconds before the mask went up again. Aaron didn't think Marissa had noticed this small change in Josten’s behavior, because she was still looking at the scene with clear disgust.

Aaron couldn't hear what was being said, nor could he see his brother next to them, but the stranger looked away from Neil and snorted before getting up, Andrew taking his place seconds later.

Marissa laughed.

“I never stopped to think about why Jostens hanging out started with you, but the dislike he shares with you brother explained everything. The two have no feelings, they match. ”

Aaron partly agreed with her. Josten and Andrew had suffered so much at the hands of other people that their dislike was justified. Aaron knew that Andrew hated being touched, that he trusted no one, and that he hated everyone and everything. Josten was completely unsympathetic out of foxes. They were the same on many ways. But, if a puzzle is only completed with different pieces, why did Andrew and Neil seem to orbit so easily together?

Marissa laughed again.

“Did I say match? What a thing. I hinted that they are together, like,  _ together _ . ” she laughed more. "As if Andrew could be with someone and Josten didn't think he was better than everyone."

“You know you're talking about my brother, right?

Marissa paused.

"I know, but it's not like you don't hate him either."

“He's my brother, Marissa. No more talking about it, anyway. ”

Katelyn chose that moment to appear. She realized that Aaron was getting irritated and raised her eyebrows.

"Is everything okay in here?"

"Yes, yes." Marissa smiled at her. "We were just talking."

"Hm," Katelyn said, sitting on Aaron's lap. “Baby, when are we leaving? I'm tired."

"It shouldn't take too long."

Kate smiled, leaning down to kiss Aaron's neck.

When Kate turned his face away from him and started to talk to Marissa, Aaron looked at her face and felt her heart squeeze. He loved her so much and felt dizzy sometimes for that. He would do anything for her and he knew that she would too for him. After all, to accept being with Aaron even after Andrew threatened her could only mean that she loved him and thought that he was worth it.

He didn't want to, but that remembered him of the week that the foxes spent at the cabin shortly after Neil's return from Baltimore. He remembered accusing Josten of following the example of dead people and how Josten punched him in the face. He remembered he didn't tell Andrew about that conversation (Aaron was sure Andrew wouldn't be happy) and how he kept looking at Andrew the same way.

It had been six months since then, and Aaron's opinion on that has changed. He watched them for the first few weeks, trying to catch a glimpse of what Josten was doing, but he never saw him. Josten was always close, but he never touched, he never crossed Andrew's limits. Aaron, unfortunately, caught them on the roof once, when he was looking for Andrew because Kevin was getting unbearable, and he saw how Josten had his hands in fists behind his body, just his lips touching and one of Andrew's hands-on Neil's cheek. Aaron found it too quick to be called a kiss, but still. It was then that he had changed his mind.

He still didn't know how to explain what they had, but he was watching for it.

He smiled at Kate, even if she wasn’t watching him, and felt his face light up with that.

"Aaron."

He looked from Kate to Josten, who was standing with his hands in his jeans pocket.

"Andrew went to get Nicky and Kevin, we are going."

"Okay." he patted Kate on the thigh to get up. Aaron was using Kate's car that night and she and Marissa were going to sleepover at their house in Columbia. Where the others went to sleep was none of his business and Marissa was only going because she was Katelyn's best friend. "We are right behind you."

Marissa didn't seem very happy to follow Josten, but she didn't say anything. Aaron intertwined his fingers with Kate's and together, and the three of them walked out of Eden's. Kate's car was next to Andrew's Maserati, who was smoking and leaning against the passenger door. Aaron assumed that Nicky and Kevin were already in the back seat.

Aaron watched Neil walk over to Andrew's side and steal the cigarette. Andrew said nothing, just stared at Josten as if he could kill him, and then walked to the driver's side and got in. Josten followed his example after throwing the cigarette butt on the floor.

Aaron wasted no time trying to assimilate what he saw, he just shook his head and got in the car.

Kate followed Andrew through the streets and Aaron thanked God when he realized Andrew heard when he had asked him to drive slowly so Kate could follow, because he didn't think he would be able to show the way.

When they arrived at the house, Andrew and Neil were trying to help Nicky and Kevin get in. Aaron ran to help Neil support Nicky, who, oddly enough, was the drunker of the two. They threw him on his bed easily enough since his room was on the first floor and stared at each other for two seconds before Neil left the room.

Kate and Marissa were already in Aaron's room, where the three of them were going to sleep and had changed clothes. Kate looked at him when she entered.

“Do you have anything to eat? I'm a little hungry. ”

Marissa, who was fiddling with the pillows, looked up.

"Me too."

"Must have, come on."

They went down the stairs to the first floor and passed Kevin, who was lying half on the floor half on the couch. And drooling. Marissa made a disparaging sound before following them into the kitchen, but they were not alone.

Andrew was standing at the stove stirring something in a pot while Neil was sitting at the counter, wearing a sweatshirt that Aaron knew was Andrew's. He didn't allow himself to think about it and walked over to the fridge while Kate and Marissa sat at the table. Andrew gave no sign that he noticed their presence, but Neil turned his head to look at them before looking back at what Andrew was doing.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked, looking at his brother over the refrigerator door.

"Oatmeal porridge," was Andrew's answer.

"Do you still have milk?"

"On here." Neil handed over the milk carton that was apparently next to him.

Aaron reached for the cereal in the cupboard and three bowls. He was too tired and a little drunk to cook. He put the bowls and cereal on the table and sat down. Marissa gathered the cereal and milk and ate, Kate had just a glass of milk. Aaron followed Marissa's example.

Amazingly, Andrew and Neil sat at the table with them. They ate in silence, but Aaron did not lose the way Katelyn leaned closer to him and how Marissa sneaked a glance at them.

Aaron sighed, finishing his cereal, not wanting to prolong it any longer than he should have. Katelyn and Marissa followed suit, and the three put the dirty bowls and glass Kate used in the sink and left it to be cleaned in the morning.

Only a minutes later, they were in Aaron's room. Katelyn would sleep in the middle, hugging Aaron and Marissa would sleep at the other end. It was a big double bed, so there was no problem and Aaron was too tired to do anything with his girlfriend anyway.

He was almost asleep when Marissa spoke.

“I had a question. Where does Josten sleep? I mean, Kevin was lying on the couch and Nicky flipped over in his room. ”

Aaron didn't have the energy to handle this conversation, but he also knew that Marissa wouldn't shut up if she didn't get her answer.

"In Andrew's room."

Aaron was startled when Marissa suddenly sat down.

“With Andrew? In the same  _ bed? ” _

Kate groaned.

Aaron had never stopped to think about it. I mean, he knew that they shared the dorm, but each had their bed and that the time they went to the cabin they also slept in the same room, but they slept  _ together? Andrew did it?  _ Aaron frowned, but he doubted Marissa could see.

"I don’t know, maybe."

Marissa snorted and finally laid down to sleep, and this time without a question coming out of nowhere. 

~

When Aaron woke up, it was still dawn. He reached out carefully, trying not to wake Katelyn laid his chest, and looked at the time. 4 and 58 in the morning. He sighed and released Kate's embrace to stood up. He stretched his spine before leaving the room and going down to the kitchen, wanting a glass of water, but he stopped at the kitchen door.

Neil and Andrew were already on their feet and Aaron could only guess that it was because Neil liked to run before the sun came up - because someone in their right mind would want that, Aaron didn't know, but he also didn't know if  _ perfect judgment  _ and  _ Neil _ matched the same. phrase. - but that was not what stopped him, no.

Aaron never thought he would witness the vision before him. He didn't even know if he was actually awake, but because the hell his mind would create that scene, he didn't know, so he watched in silence and half-hidden by the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room while Neil was washing two cups of coffee, in the sink, with Andrew behind him, both hands on Neil's waist. They did not appear to have their bodies glued together, but they were close enough to give that impression.

Aaron was  _ shocked,  _ to say the least. He didn't know what to think of his brother's relationship after most of the homophobic thoughts were removed from his mind, but he didn't expect  _ that _ . He watched as Andrew raised his hand and removed what must have been dirt from Neil's neck and then  _ kissed  _ the spot.

_ Okay, enough, _ he thought as he took a few steps back and then cursed on purpose as if he'd bumped into Kevin as he walked into the kitchen. When he entered, the scene before him had changed. Andrew had sat on the kitchen counter while Neil finished wiping the cups.

"Good Morning," he said ignoring the two and going straight to the fridge to taking a water bottle.

"Why are you awake at this hour?"

Aaron didn't expect  _ Andrew to _ try to talk to him.

Well, maybe he's not, it certainly was just curiosity. Or maybe he's doing it because that's what Betsy recommended. For them to _ try. _ Aaron wanted to, but he didn't know if it would work.

He didn't respond, choosing to swing the bottle and leave it implied.

"And you?"

"Neil is going to run before we get back."

Andrew hadn't proclaimed so many words to him since he sobered up, Aaron was a little shocked that he did. Okay, he had to start to stop assuming that his brother is not quite capable of doing certain things, like talking and apparently  _ kissing necks, _ but he wouldn’t get into that now.

"It doesn't explain  why  are  _ you _ up."

Neil, who had already finished drying the cups, circled Andrew to gain space and put the cups in the cupboard. Andrew withdrew just enough to carry out that act.

Aaron wasn't expecting him to answer his non-question, but Andrew shrugged and said,

"Light sleep."

Aaron nodded and left the kitchen, returning to the bedroom.

He was unable to go back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron notices something interesting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, i'm back!   
> hope you enjoy it <3

Aaron should be studying.

He knows he should, he went to the library for that purpose, after all. He had  _ three _ exams this week and he couldn’t fool around if he wanted to close the semester with above-average grades, but he couldn’t concentrate on the anatomy books in front of him.

His head was full of concern about tomorrow night's game against the Crows. Aaron generally didn't let his thoughts wander around Exy when he was out of court, but there was a difference when it came to them, even for Aaron. Neil and Kevin were losing their shit even with Riko dead, which made Andrew tense and made everyone worry that _ he  _ would actually lose his head, but Aaron thought Andrew wasn't going to let go of himself. Even if that was a variable. 

He dropped the pencil and put his face in his hands to stifle the desperate groan he made.

_ God, _ he thought.  _ Why did I choose to be a doctor anyway? _

Aaron was sure that an aneurysm would burst in his head in the next five minutes. He lifted his head, grabbed the thermos he had filled with coffee before leaving the dorm that afternoon and took a generous sip. He took his phone out of his pocket and answered a message from Kate and another from Matt asking if he would be taking too long to return, which he said yes because he knew why Matt was asking, until he saw an unread message from Andrew.

_ Andrew never texts me. _

He clicked on his brother's name.

**_Andrew:_** _have_ _you seen Neil?_

Aaron read the message three times before he was sure what it was.  _ Andrew  _ was asking  _ Aaron  _ about  _ Josten? _

**_Aaron:_ ** _ n. why _

Because he couldn't help being curious as to why that message was sent to him in the first place.

**_Andrew_ ** _ : no one knows where he is _

Ah, so that was it.

The runner ran again. Aaron did not expect the wave of anger that arose in his chest wondering what was going on in Andrew's head. He was taken by the memories of Andrew hanging Kevin from the neck because he had lost his mind with the striker’s disappearance, which led to his twin handcuffed to coach so he wouldn't go looking for Neil in the crossfire himself. Aaron didn't know what Andrew would do this time.

In a sudden rush, Aaron got up and started to pack his things. Everything inside him screamed for him to go after Andrew and try to get around the outbreak that was likely to come. Well, he was just making assumptions that Andrew would lose his mind like that day, but he wasn't thinking rationally when his own screamed _go to Andrew go to Andrew_ _go to Andrew go to Andrew._

He was almost at the door when someone called his name.

He stopped and looked back to find Callie, a girl from his biology class. She wanted to know if he had answered the last activity sheet, but he was not patient and did not look at her, trying to show that he was in a hurry.

That's when he saw it.

Neil Josten, sleeping at one of the tables.

He let out a series of expletives and walked towards Josten, ignoring Callie. He could either apologize to her later or just stay away, but that wasn't even the hundredth thing on Aaron's priority list.

The first was to give Josten a fucking slap on his fucking face.

While zigzagging between the tables, he texted Andrew, telling him of the senior idiot's whereabouts, because as much as Josten was an idiot, Kevin still had the position of a moron.

He couldn't help but slap Josten on the neck, who jumped and fell off his chair when he woke up.

"What the fuck, Aaron!?" Josten exclaimed, standing up and checking his left arm, which had a reddish scratch, caused by the corner of the table during the fall. Aaron could have laughed until he fell under other circumstances, but he was really furious.

_ Because? _ He didn't know exactly.

"Next time, tell me people are going to fall asleep in inconvenient places and make everyone panic."

He raised a mocking eyebrow.

"Awn, Aaron. Were you worried about me?"

“Not with you, with other people's safety in case Andrew loses his mind with his disappearance.  _ Again." _

Josten looked at him strangely but said nothing.

Aaron crossed his arms over his chest after putting his backpack on his shoulders and watched Josten gather his books with an obvious scowl.

Andrew appeared a few minutes later and Aaron noticed when he checked Josten with his eyes and he went into an internal outbreak when his brother noticed the scratch on his arm. Aaron should know better than to hurt Andrew's things even when he was technically one of Andrew's things.

His twin closed his eyes at Josten but said nothing. He turned on his back and started walking towards the exit, Josten sighed, picked up his things, and followed him, but stopped a few steps later.

"Are you going to stay here?" he asked Aaron.

Aaron didn't think much of it and started walking out of the library with Josten to meet Andrew outside, who was smoking as he leaned against the building's wall. Neil walked straight to him and Andrew handed him a cigarette, walked over to the driver's door of the Maserati parked there, and got in. Aaron following him and sat in the backseat. Neil finished his cigarette before entering the passenger side and Andrew started the car.

They were silent for about ten minutes before Neil spoke softly.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Aaron raised his eyebrows at that since he didn’t expect it, but kept quiet and watched Andrew's reaction. His brother said nothing, just tightened the steering wheel a little.

"I was more concerned with the headache that Kevin was going to give me for losing an attacker."

Josten laughed.

What he had found funny in that sentence, Aaron had no idea, but whatever it was, Josten's laugh made Andrew relax his shoulders. From where he was sitting on the bench behind Josten's, Aaron saw when he laid his head down so he could watch Andrew drive.

"Looking." Andrew's voice sounded almost amused in Aaron's ears.  _ What the fuck? _

"Yeah," said Neil, in a calm voice.

Aaron thought that he could open the car door and throw himself still on the move so hope to lose his recent memory. But he didn’t. Instead, he watched with pure shock when Andrew put his hand on the center console, palm open in a clear invitation that Josten happily accepted. Aaron didn't believe he was alive to witness his brother making a gesture as  _ holding hands _ .

None of them said anything else during the trip.

~

The next day, Aaron leaves the biology building wanting to kill someone.

The test had made him so angry that he couldn't wait for the game to start so that he could vent all his rage on those beastly little birds. He walked over to the cafeteria across the street and rubbed his hands together, which were cold from the lab's air conditioning. An annoying bell dinged when he opened the door and Aaron's scowl deepened as he walked towards the cashier.

"A strong black coffee and two toasts," he said his usual order, already taking the money out of the wallet and handing over the girl who worked there. He rested his arms on the counter while looking over his shoulder, searching for a table while waiting for his order.

Andrew and Neil were sitting at a table by the window, facing each other, while eating. Neil kept a notebook next to a bowl of chips and a pen in one hand while Andrew looked at anything other than the attacker.

When his order arrived, he didn't think twice - in fact, he _ didn't _ think - and walked towards them.

"Can I sit here?" he asked.

Neither Andrew nor Josten looked at him, but Josten pushed the chair over with his foot, a silent invitation. Aaron placed his order on the table before sitting down and wasted no time trying to talk to them, after all, none of the three were very adept at conversation, but he was curious about  _ one  _ thing.

"Are you guys at lunchtime?"

Neil paused from what he was writing and looked at Aaron as if he had forgotten that he had been there for the past ten minutes. Andrew looked at him at the same moment as Josten, both looking the same kind of bored.

He wondered for a moment if the face of boredom was contagious.

Also, he asked himself if it was that what people felt when  _ he _ made that face.

Josten shrugged and went back to writing.

"Yes." he replied, simply.

Andrew was still looking at him, but he had an eyebrow raised now, the only thing that moved in his face.

"Ask what you really want to ask, little brother."

Aaron paused with his mouth open and one of the toasts halfway to his mouth, too shocked to think fast.  _ Had Andrew called him a little brother?  _ Was he trying to be  _ ironic? _

Aaron was really going to have that aneurysm.

He put the toast back on the plate and furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about,  _ little brother,"  _ he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the body of the chair and looked at Andrew, who did not seem impressed to have his word turned against him.

Andrew just looked back at him, waiting.

Aaron could go on with that face-to-face game  _ or _ do what Betsy has been trying to convince them to do during that whole time of joint therapy for almost seven months.

He sighed, defeated.

"Do you always have lunch together?"

Josten made a strange sound as if trying - and failing - to hold back a laugh, but he didn't lift his head from the notebook. What was he writing in there, by the way?

“Only when we have the same lunchtime. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” it was Josten who answered, but Aaron was slightly pleased that his brother had done nothing to mock his curiosity.

He went back to his toast, for the sake of his sanity.

He reached for his coffee at the same moment that Josten reached for his juice to get the sleeve of his shirt up a bit in the process, that's when Aaron froze.

Over the dark edge of Neil's armband was a bracelet that Aaron knew very well.

Years earlier, when he first met his brother in the reformatory where Andrew was at that time, the first thing he noticed about his brother was the silver bracelet that ornamented his right wrist.

It was just a metal plate, with an engraving that Aaron was unable to see until a while later, when Nicky became responsible for them.

_ The sun, the moon and the truth _ . It was what was recorded.

Aaron had no idea why Andrew chose that print or whatever it meant, but he knew that Andrew had gotten the bracelet at the age of twelve on a school trip to a museum and, when they were coming back, the teachers allowed the students enter an amusement park and it was there that he bought and recorded the bracelet. In a rare moment, when they were both seventeen and Andrew had already stopped wearing the bracelet, replacing it with armbands, Aaron asked about it and Andrew answered.

" _ I bought it because I had a good day,"  _ he said, sitting at the Columbia home table. “ _ And wanted to have a physical memory of that day. I was twelve. ” _

Aaron at the time didn't understand, but today he finally understood.

Today, he knew that those three things were part of a Buddhist phrase.  _ The three things that cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. _

He wondered briefly if the twelve-year-old Andrew wanted to use the bracelet as a way of hoping that the truth about the things his foster brother did to him would come out and end.

Aaron wanted to throw up.

He didn't know that Andrew still had that bracelet. He thought he had put an end to it when the armbands appeared, but there she was. Aaron was sure it was the same and was on Josten's wrist.

_ Had Andrew given it to him? Why? _

He didn't ask, of course. Andrew seemed to be in a good mood that day, considering the irony, but Aaron was sure Andrew wouldn't be too happy to answer  _ that. _

He would have to wait for the next session shared with Betsy.

Aaron hitchhiked back to the Fox Tower after lunch and met them again when it was time to head to the stadium. Nicky looked unusually happy that night, more than usual, and Aaron wondered if he was trying to make up for the way Josten looking like he was sinking into darkness. Even his irritatingly light gaze seemed dark and Aaron wondered what Andrew was thinking about it if even  _ Aaron _ was seeing that thing hanging around Josten.

They entered the Maserati and Andrew automatically turned up the volume, causing Nicky to shut up, something Aaron was extremely grateful for.

Foxhole Stadium was already partially full when they arrived. Wymack was in the lobby, shouting for them to hurry up and change clothes and get warm, which they quickly obeyed.

When Aaron was ready, he ran to the court to warm-up before Kevin started to be his usual moron self. When he finished his series of laps around the court along with Matt, Nicky, and Dan, he noticed that his brother and Josten had not yet appeared, which was very strange considering that Josten was as much of a sports slut as Kevin.

He walked over to the benches and took a sip from the bottle of water.

"Aaron, where the  _ hell is _ your brother?" Wymack asked, looking at Aaron as if he expected him to take Andrew out of his pocket.

“How would I know? We are non-Siamese twins. ”

Wymack raised both eyebrows.

"Go look for him and while you’re there tell him that I need to talk to him."

"Why don't you send Josten?"

Wymack looked around.

“Are you seeing Josten somewhere? Well, I don’t. Stop messing around and go, ” and left without giving Aaron a chance to answer.

Aaron snorted and headed for the locker rooms, stopping at the entrance to listen, in  _ case  _ his dear brother and Josten were,  _ um _ , unavailable. He didn't believe in that possibility, in fact, Josten was addicted to the game enough to don’t anything  _ compromising  _ before a game.

But he was also always the first to step on the court to warm up, and here they were.

From where he looked behind the crack in the half-open door, he saw Josten sitting on the bench, his head in his hands and Andrew in front of him, resting on his heels and hands in Josten's arms.

"I can't do this," he heard Josten whisper. "I can't, I can't ..."

"Neil." Andrew's voice was serious, as always, but there was something else that Aaron couldn't identify. He pulled on Josten's arms so that his head had to lift up and face Andrew. "Listen to me, hey,  _ Abram _ , listen to me, okay?"

A nod in agreement.

"Who are you?"

Aaron raised his eyebrows.

"Neil Abram Josten, number ten striker for the Foxes," he replied, his voice breaking.

"What about your parents and Riko?"

"Dead."

“That. Dead. They can't hurt you anymore. ” Aaron watched as Andrew started fiddling with the bracelet on Josten's wrist.  _ The _ bracelet. "Remember what I said when I gave it to you?" Josten shook his head up and down twice and sighed, resting his forehead against Andrew's.

So Aaron  _ was _ right, it was the same bracelet.

"Can I kiss you?"

Andrew didn't answer, just took Josten's head with both hands and pulled it against his. Like the other kiss that Aaron witnessed, this one didn't last long either, but Andrew kept his face close to Josten's, murmuring something that Aaron couldn't hear.

He decided it was time to let him know that he was there and, just like that time in Columbia, he took a few steps back and started walking noisily. When he entered, however, they were still close, but Andrew was now sitting next to Josten, on the bench, while he finished putting on his shoes.

"Wymack told you to hurry and that he wants to talk to you, Andrew." he turned and left, without waiting for an answer.

They won the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love the idea of andrew giving neil something important for him and my friend and i had the idea for the bracelet! Sorry if you ran away from the character to someone, but I'm a boiola (kkk Brazilians, hello) for them.   
> let me know what you guys think, hun?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kevin and aaron have a conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw to homophobic thoughts in the beginning

Aaron needed all his willpower to not to break the glass he was holding and stick the shards in his eyes.

The foxes had taken a weekend off and soon Allison and Nicky convinced everyone that it was a good idea to take a second trip to the mountain. Erik had managed a few days of vacation and came from Germany to visit Nicky and the two were currently immersed in their own world on the living room sofa.

_ Disgusting. _

Aaron shook his head to ward off the thought - he had promised Kate he wouldn't be that person, no matter how much he still struggled with the feeling when he saw them or caught a glimpse of their relationship. Well, in Nicky and Erik‘s case it was as if he were a third member in that courtship that they exposed so much.

Thank goodness Andrew and Neil weren't like that, he didn't know how he would react if he ever had to look at a version of himself, actually making out with another man. He shook his head again and tried to focus on the glass of vodka in his hand and Kate parading in a bikini around the pool with some of the freshmen that Aaron hadn't made a point of learning the name of.

He leaned back in his chair to get a better view of his girlfriend when she started teaching the freshmen a few steps from the Vixen dance and took another sip of the vodka.

Kevin Day sank into the chair next to Aaron's and unceremoniously stole the glass of vodka and ended up with all the contents inside it in moments. He made a satisfied sound when he swallowed the liquid.

"Sure, Kevin, you can have all of my vodka, feel free."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Aaron," he said, but there was no sign of his usual rudeness. "Thea broke up with me."

Aaron raised his eyebrows.

"What a pity." he said looking back at Kate.

Kevin shouted something at Nicky inside the house, probably to bring a bottle of any drink, but Aaron was too immersed in Katelyn to pay attention - or to do as much as care.

"What would you do if Katelyn broke up with you?" Kevin asked, his voice a little muffled by the fact that he was talking with his chin resting on his chest.

Aaron shrugged.

"She won't."

"But what if she ended it?"

Aaron didn't know how to respond. He never thought about that possibility, especially in everything Kate agreed to be with him before Andrew gave in to breaking the deal in favor of Neil...

"I don't know." he finally admitted. “I never minded to think about it. I think I would be upset, I don't know. ”

"I'm not upset." said Kevin. "I'm trying to get drunk.", And he got up and went into the house, probably to get the pint that Nicky didn't bring and a look over his shoulder explained exactly why Nicky didn’t bother with Kevin's request.

Aaron groaned.

He watched as Kevin started to come back and followed his steps until he was seated again, fearing he would fall to the floor and break the bottle and get hurt. When he sat down, Aaron took his bottle and refilled his glass, Kevin drank straight from the neck.

“She dumped me by message. " _ There's no more, Kevin,"  _ she said. You didn't even answer my call. ” another sip straight from the neck. “After everything we've been through at the Nest, she breaks up with me by  _ message! _ I think I deserved at least a little consideration from her, don't you think? ”

"I think so." he spoke without thinking.

“What am I going to do without her? To be the best Exy player out there is that. ”

"You already are," he said without thinking again.

"I will play as if my life depends on it and I will be the  _ best _ ."

Aaron thought it was time for Kevin to stop drinking, but he wouldn't be the one to say that to him, instead he looked for his brother with his eyes, finding him sitting under the shadow of the tree next door, his eyes fixed where Neil was at the pool with Allison, Dan and Matt.

Aaron watched the way his eyes followed each movement Neil made and how slightly tense he was when someone bumped into Neil or touched Neil or got too close to Neil. He watched as Neil got out of the pool and sat next to Andrew in the chair, close enough for Aaron to think that if it were him, Andrew would have stabbed him, but far enough away not to touch Andrew, even though the chair was relatively small for two people.

Andrew tilted his head slightly towards Neil and said something to him, but Aaron was far enough away that he couldn't hear, but that made Neil smile. Andrew put the cigarette in Neil's lips between his fingers and he took a drag, then blew smoke across Andrew's neck.

"What are you looking at?" asked Kevin. It was amazing how reasonably eloquent he was to be two steps away from falling into an alcoholic coma.

Aaron shook his head, turning his attention away from where his brother and boyfriend were and looking at Kevin, who was looking at him with big green eyes out of focus. Aaron never noticed how green Kevin's eyes were until that moment.

He looked away from the drink in front of him.

"Nothing." he replied groggily, but he couldn't help looking at where his brother was.

Nicky had a theory that what they had was just a hate-driven attraction and Aaron agreed with him at the time, even though his brother had chosen to break the agreement between them instead of breaking up with Neil and, watching them  _ now, _ Aaron realized that maybe Nicky was extremely wrong.

"Lie," said Kevin. "You are lying to me, don't lie to me, Aaron."

"I'm not lying."

"What are you not lying about, dear?" asked Katelyn, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around Aaron's neck. He realized, stunned, that he hadn't noticed she was coming.

"Aaron doesn't want to tell me what he was looking at." accused Kevin, pointing his index finger at Aaron's face. "Tell him not to lie to me."

Aaron was uncomfortable with the accusation for some unknown reason, but Kate thought it was funny.

"Aaron, don't lie to Kevin."

Aaron snorted and then pulled Kate in for a quick kiss and let her drag him into the pool right after. Aaron didn't like the chlorine-filled pool water very much, so he just put his legs in the water, with Kate between them. He put his hands behind his body for support.

They spent the rest of the afternoon like that.

~

When the night fell, Allison had the brilliant idea of challenging Katelyn and Neil to guess which twin was hers, and which was his. Which Aaron hated right away, but Kate seemed curious and worst of all  _ Andrew _ seemed curious.

So Allison ordered them to wear the same outfit - they wore a long-sleeved shirt to hide Andrew's scars, as he wasn't going to wear armbands for that, and Palmetto's sweatpants and they were barefoot - while she searched for two sales, so that Andrew's murderous look was not another tip.

When they came down, neither Neil nor Katelyn were in the room.

"It will be one at a time, of course." said Allison when Aaron asked where the two were. “With the two in the room, only one will really have to find out. Let's go with Neil first. Nicky, bring him. ”

"Okay, Neil, you have five minutes to answer which one is Andrew." Allison's voice spoke. Aaron hated not being able to see. "Starting now."

Aaron thought this was ridiculous. He wanted to cross his arms over his chest, but Allison said they were supposed to be in the same position, so he just waited.

When he heard Nicky scream, he knew Neil was right.

Aaron took off the blindfold to see Neil sitting on Andrew's lap, with his brother's hands on the attacker's waist. Andrew hadn't changed his facial expression, but Neil had a smile on his face.

“ _ How? _ He didn't even hesitate. ” asked Nicky. "Even I was confused."

Neil shrugged.

Andrew patted Neil's thigh and he got up and went to sit on the arm of the couch where Matt and Dan were. Allison indicated that they put the sales back on and Katelyn was brought in.

“Very well, Kate. What is your?"

"Jesus." he heard Kate exclaim and then she laughed nervously. "I never thought they were so alike until now, but ... is this one?"

Aaron realized that she was not that confident.

"Oh, come on, Katelyn," said Neil and Aaron knew she was wrong. He took off the blindfold in time to see her bring both hands to her mouth.

"Did you get it  _ wrong?"  _ Aaron asked, but the hurt he thought would come if she made a mistake didn't come.

"Sorry, baby, but you are the  _ same _ ."

"Neil got it right." he pointed and Kate joined her eyebrows and hugged herself.

"Let's try with Kevin." suggested Matt, laughing. "He's too drunk for them to need the sale again."

"I want to see that." said Nicky and went to the pool area where Kevin was sleeping and one of the chairs. Kevin didn't look very happy to have been woken up and the frown was almost comical if it weren't for the drool mark on his chin. "Kevin, which one is who?"

"What?"

"Which of the twins is who."

Kevin took a look at them and pointed towards Aaron.

"Aaron." and then moved his finger towards Andrew “and Andrew. Why that?"

Aaron was shocked that a wasted Kevin could tell them apart and his own girlfriend couldn’t.

“We were looking to see if Katelyn and Neil would know how to differentiate. Neil got it right, Katelyn didn't. ”

Kevin looked at Aaron's girlfriend as if she were an experiment and then sat on the couch where Renee was and went back to sleep almost immediately.

"Okay." began Allison, noting that the weather had suddenly grown heavy. "Nicky, help me make some cocktails."

"Don't you think we've had too much to drink for a day, Allison?" asked Dan.

"We never drink too much for a day," she said, simply walking towards the kitchen, Nicky in tow.

Andrew needed no greater incentive to leave the room, Neil following like a puppy. Aaron could do the same thing as them, but he knew that Katelyn would follow him and he really didn't want to talk to her right now, knowing that she would be apologizing for being wrong, so he decided he was going to get some air and went outside , near the pool.

Aaron did not have the habit of smoking as his brother and he honestly saw no reason for it, but at that moment he wished he did _.  _ Aaron hadn't used any drugs in a long time, but his hands were shaking, wanting something to calm him down.

He didn't know why was that - if it was because Katelyn missed and Neil got it right. If it was the fact that Josten's idiot knew Andrew better than he did, perhaps the realization that what he and his brother have is deeper than he let himself think.

He found himself wondering if two years from now, three years from now Josten would still be in Andrew's life and Aaron wouldn't.

He was so immersed in these thoughts that he didn't notice when Kevin joined him.

"Are you okay?" he asked and Aaron was surprised. Kevin and he were not friends, even though they had shared the dorm for more than a year, they never really had a conversation. Not  _ as such _ at least.

Kevin was always Andrew's, always both up and down, and Aaron wondered in a flash if Kevin felt as lost as he was about the new order of things. Sure, Andrew still has Kevin under his wing, but he has Josten now too. If the two fought - or if they were both in danger at the same time - which of the two Andrew would choose?

He took a deep breath before remembering that Kevin was still waiting for an answer. He turned his head to look at him and realized that Kevin was already looking at him. Kevin raised an eyebrow, questioning.

"I don't know what I'm feeling, actually." Aaron confessed.

“I see. I'm like that about Thea breaking up with me by message. ” he joined his eyebrows. “She broke up with me in general. After everything we went through in the Nest, I thought that nothing could be worse, but then I lied about what happened to my hand. ”

"Did she break up with you for this?"

Kevin shrugged.

"She didn't explain the reasons, but she spent the last few months playing in my face that I lied whenever I could."

"So you're better off without it."

Kevin laughed.

"Funny, Andrew said the same thing."

They were silent after that, watching the stars. When Aaron was a child, one of his mother's many boyfriends taught him about them and since then he enjoys watching them.

_ Andrew has the cigarettes, I have the stars. _

"You're not upset about Katelyn, are you?" Kevin asked and Aaron looked away from the sky to face the other man, who was not looking at him.

"I don't know."

"You're more upset by the fact that Neil knows Andrew better than Katelyn knows you," he said and it wasn't a question. Aaron snorted. "Or, you're upset that Neil knows Andrew better than you do."

"Since when did you become a psychoanalyst?" Aaron snarled, instantly regretting the way the words came out of his mouth.

Kevin was not impressed.

“Look, in defense of Katelyn, she doesn't spend  _ any time _ with Andrew, she just knows you. Neil lives with you two, it is different when you live with both. ”

"I don't know if that makes a lot of sense."

"Do it in my head."

"You’re drunk."

"I am sober enough."

Aaron blew out his nose, not very convinced.

"Are you drunk enough to answer me one thing?"

Kevin laid his head on his shoulder and looked at Aaron curiously.

"Try it."

"What are they like?"

Kevin took a while to understand who Aaron was talking about, but when he did, he sighed.

“I can't say that I understand their relationship, but I know that when one of them has nightmares, they both stay awake so that the other is not alone with those memories or thoughts. I know that when Neil is on the verge of a panic attack, Andrew knows how to calm him down. I know that Neil always asks before he approaches Andrew's personal space and that Andrew sometimes sleeps with his arm under Neil's pillow. ”

"Do they sleep in the same bed?"

Aaron had to admit that he was a little surprised by this.

"Sometimes, it's not every day that they do it."

Aaron nodded thoughtfully.

He should raise this issue at the next session shared with Betsy, talk directly to his brother about it, because as much as Kevin - who shares the dorm with them - says, he can't say he believes. He tries to remove the image that his brother is beyond salvation, that he is so broken that the simple gesture of sleeping with his arm under someone else's pillow seems like a ridiculous and impossible idea in Aaron's head.

He didn't know that Andrew had nightmares. Was it about Drake? About the others who broke him?It should be, and Aaron should know better when he dreams about that day himself.

Sometimes he dreams that it was Neil instead of Drake, and as much as he tried to not associate this idea anymore, the dreams are so vivid that makes it difficult to look at the attacker without a wave of anger dominating him.

Aaron sighed and rubbed both hands over his face and then turned him towards the sky, so that his closed eyes were facing the stars he liked so much. 

“We should get in, shouldn't we? It's getting really cold in here. ” said Kevin almost in a whisper.

"Yes ... but the stars are so beautiful tonight." says Aaron, opening his eyes and looking. "You can go, you don't have to stay just because I will"

Kevin shook his head.

"I will not leave you alone now."

Aaron didn't say it out loud, but thanked Kevin.  _ I will not leave you alone now with your thoughts on them,  _ he understood. Aaron was entering dangerous ground with his thoughts on Josten, and Kevin was there to not leave him alone with them.

They just stood there, in silence, looking at the stars. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a posting date, but all the chapters are ready so I shouldn't be long. that's it, i hope you liked it <3


End file.
